"P" is for Preston, William Campbell (1794-1860)

"P" is for Preston, William Campbell (1794-1860). U.S. Senator. A Virginian, Preston’s illness forced him to withdraw from Washington College. His parents sent him to the South Carolina College—from which he graduated in 1812. He then studied law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. After practicing law in Missouri and Virginia, he moved to South Carolina in 1824. Four years later Preston was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. In 1833, the legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate and he was re-elected in 1837. In the Senate he was considered an eloquent orator. He was an active critic of Andrew Jackson and member of the fledging Whig Party. Retiring from politics, William Campbell Preston practiced law and, in 1845, was elected president and professor of belles lettres of South Carolina College.